Chapter 4
Dustin’s adrenaline pumped through him at double speed. He had to do something fast. Silver’s horse was about to plunge over the edge of a ravine.
His mind was already racing for a solution and had been from the moment he’d crested the hill and noticed her mare growing more agitated by the stallion. He should have done something at that point, but he’d been afraid he’d startle her mare even more.
It had been no surprise to him when her horse had bolted, and the stallion had chased after her. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the speed of the pursuit.
Now she was too far ahead for him to intervene, to grab her or stop her mare.
“Kick her with your heel!” he shouted again, cupping his hands around his mouth to project the words.
She glanced back at him, her eyes wide. Even from a distance he could see the fear in them.
“Kick!” He demonstrated with the gelding that one of the ranch hands had given him for his excursion around the property.
In the next instant, she imitated his action and jabbed her boot heel into her mare’s flank. The mare shifted a pace, but it wasn’t enough.
They were only fifty yards now from the ravine.
“Kick again!”
Whether she heard him or not, she put more power into the next wallop.
The horse started to turn but then saw the stallion again and didn’t swing wide enough.
Dustin didn’t waste any more time. He had only one other option. He had to do it now before it was too late. He pulled out his pistol, aimed it, and fired several rounds.
He was a champion in marksmanship, had been one of the best snipers in his regiment. He wasn’t worried in the least about hitting Silver. And he didn’t intend to harm the horses.
No, he needed to startle them.
At the sound of the shots, Silver’s horse sensed the threat and veered. Finally.
It wasn’t enough. The mare was still on a projection to fall over the edge of the cliff.
He rapidly shot again with the same precision, this time coming even closer to the mare, but only enough to scare her into rotating more sharply. All the while, Silver continued to use her heel to communicate to the horse the urgency of turning.
With the ravine only a dozen paces away, the mare finally circled around wider. Thankfully.
Expelling a tight breath, Dustin shoved his gun back into his holster. That had been too close.
The mare didn’t slow her pace as she now rounded back across the field in the direction of the ranch yard.
He angled his gelding toward the wild stallion. Why had Silver gotten so close to the wild horses anyway? She’d been naive and foolish to do so. Anyone who knew anything understood the unpredictable nature of a wild horse that felt threatened.
Dustin squeezed his thighs, urging his gelding to go faster. He hunched lower and used everything he’d learned from growing up on the ranch to propel his horse faster—murmurs, touch, calmness, and commanding body language.
With the stallion having to circle, Dustin was able to reach the creature and cut it off. He kept pace, using his own power and strength to guide it away from Silver’s mount and direct it back toward the band of horses it had left behind.
In his peripheral vision, Dustin could see Silver gaining more control over the mare.
He kept his pace beside the stallion. Within moments, they neared the band of horses the stallion had left behind.
The creatures had been watching the stallion’s approach.
As he galloped past, they were ready and began racing alongside him, their tails flaring, their manes blowing, and the dust flying up in their wake.
Dustin reined in his horse. A quick look in the direction of the ranch told him Silver had gotten her mare under control. She’d reached the ranch yard, and her assistant, Beryl, had raced there as well. A couple of ranch hands were running toward Silver, obviously having witnessed the close call.
He scanned her in one swift look as she sat on her horse.
She was unharmed as far as he could tell.
He wasn’t too far away to notice how grown-up she was at twenty-five.
Her dark—almost ebony—hair hung down her back in stylish wide curls that had somehow managed to stay picture-perfect in spite of the death-defying ride.
Her tight designer jeans and a denim shirt with dangling beads showed off her toned and fit body with all the right curves.
The portion of her face he’d seen beneath the brim of her fancy cowboy hat had been tanned and healthy and as pretty as he’d remembered.
No doubt about it. She was a desirable woman. She just wasn’t someone he planned to desire.
Nope. He’d spent the entire flight to Colorado prepping himself for the fact that she would be attractive and sweet, just like she’d always been. But he didn’t intend to let anything about her break down the hard and tall exterior wall he’d erected.
He was here to do his job. That was all. They were nothing more than old acquaintances.
He shifted his gaze back to the wild horses climbing a rocky foothill, their strides so nimble and graceful. They crested the top, and Dustin watched until they were completely out of sight down the other side. Then he nudged his gelding and started at a trot toward the ranch yard.
Silver was dismounting, the two ranch hands and Beryl helping her down.
Dustin had also spent his time during the flight to Colorado reading through the file and learning about everyone who had any contact with Silver, including her assistant.
The agency had already run background checks on every employee and every client who had been at the ranch within the past two years.
And he’d gone through those files as well.
Dustin had wanted to arrive prepared. Even though Killian had another agent working on sifting through the long list of people Upton St. James had offended over recent years, Dustin was convinced the stalker was someone local—or had an inside accomplice.
How else would he be able to deliver the letters without using a stamp and postal service?
As Silver’s feet touched the ground, she sagged into the older woman’s arms. Silver’s legs trembled just a little, enough for Dustin to see she was shaken by what had happened.
She ought to be. She’d almost killed herself.
A burst of indignation flared to life in his chest. This near-death incident had nothing to do with her stalker’s threats. No, this incident had everything to do with her getting into trouble of her own making.
He was responsible for protecting her from the stalker until the problem was eliminated. He hadn’t come to babysit her. Even so, how had he been on the job for less than two hours and almost failed at keeping his client safe?
With his muscles tensing, he finished crossing the field. When he drew up beside Silver and Beryl, he reined in sharply and slid down, his feet slamming into the ground forcefully.
Still hugging Beryl, Silver pulled back, wiped at her eyes, then pivoted to face him.
She’d taken off her cowboy hat, and her long dark hair framed her face.
As with her hair, her makeup was done to perfection, highlighting her high cheekbones, her elegant eyebrows, and her slender nose.
Although the remnants of the girl he once knew were still there, her features held a new maturity and beauty, so much so that she could have walked straight out of a photoshopped image.
She even surpassed his brother’s supermodel fiancée in looks.
Or maybe he was biased, since he’d always been partial to dark-haired women.
Whatever the case, Dustin found himself meeting her gaze and immediately starting to drown in blue eyes surrounded by long lashes that were as dark as her hair. The blue was as bottomless and mesmerizing as it had always been—maybe even more so, since her wide eyes revealed her vulnerability.
His whole body tensed with a strange, almost overpowering emotion he couldn’t name.
He had to stop himself from sucking in a sharp breath at his visceral reaction to her, and he had to stop himself from the sudden urge to gently wipe away the dampness still lingering in her eyelashes, making them shimmer.
He crossed his arms and spread his feet into his most intimidating stance.
“Hello, Dustin.” Her voice was soft and sweet. He’d never seen her get angry or be negative toward anyone. He wasn’t sure if she was capable.
“What were you thinking out there?”
She hadn’t exactly been smiling at him, but now she gave him a narrowed glare. Apparently she was capable of getting angry. At him.
Anger was good here. It would put him back behind the wall he’d erected. “You almost killed yourself.”
“Nice to see you again too.” This time her voice lacked warmth.
“Everyone knows to stay away from wild horses.”
She gently tucked a long wave behind one ear, a habit she’d had when she’d been younger too.
Her nails were done in a light pink—not overly long, but stylish.
A gold shamrock bracelet dangled around her wrist. And that thin half-inch scar was still visible on her hand from the cut she’d gotten from an old piece of barbed wire when they’d been playing hide-and-seek during one of her summer visits at Healing Springs Ranch.
She kept her narrowed eyes on him a moment longer, as though she might be trying to find a scathing comeback. Then she sighed and hugged her arms across her chest. “I realize I made a mistake, and I’m grateful you were there to help.”
He had a caustic retort at the ready, but with her penitent eyes now peering up at him, how could he stay angry?
He couldn’t. He never had been able to stay upset at her.
Even so, he had to make sure she knew she couldn’t repeat such a stunt, especially because the next time he might not be around to rescue her.
“Until the wild horses are out of the area, stay off the horse.” He cocked his head toward her mare.
“Of course I can’t do that.” Silver reached for her mare’s reins. “I work every day with the horses.”
“Take a break.”
She dropped a fist to her hip. “That’s not an option.”